Huawei, Microsoft launch cheap smartphone in Lagos

Microsoft on Tuesday announced a partnership with Chinese manufacturer Huawei to offer an affordably priced Smartphone in Africa geared toward tapping into the continent’s exploding mobile market.

4Afrika Smartphone introducing the phone at an event in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, a Microsoft executive said the aim was to have the 4Afrika phone priced at below $200.

The Huawei phone model is not exclusive to the continent, but the 4Afrika version is being adapted to African markets, including with apps geared toward specific countries. 

At the Nigerian event, officials demonstrated apps including a dictionary for the local Yoruba language and local news.

Huawei is known for building affordable phones, and the first in the series of the 4Afrika brand will initially be available as early as this month in Angola, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa. 

Africa has been the world’s fastest growing mobile market in addition to being home to the globe’s most rapidly expanding population. 

In countries such as Nigeria, landlines are almost non-existent, with infrastructure left to decay as mobile phones expanded. However, the high cost of smart phones, which can sometimes run over $700, has kept penetration of such devices on the continent relatively low.

Microsoft estimates that Smartphone penetration in Africa is about 10 percent, while IDC research firm says sales of the devices accounted for 45.5 percent of total mobile phone sales globally last year. 

In Nigeria, the number of Smartphone subscriptions has been put at some four million, with half of those Blackberries, which remain overwhelmingly popular in the country despite the brand’s sharp decline elsewhere.